Electromagnetic neutrino: a short review

Abstract

A short review on selected issues related to the problem of neutrino electromagnetic properties is given. After a flash look at the theoretical basis of neutrino electromagnetic form factors, constraints on neutrino magnetic moments and electric millicharge from terrestrial experiments and astrophysical observations are discussed. We also focus on some recent studies of the problem and on perspectives.The passed two years, since the previous ICHEP conference held in Melbourne in 2012, have been celebrated by a spectacular step further in high energy physics. The prediction of the now-termed BEH symmetry breaking mechanism, attributed to Robert Brout, Francois Englert and Peter Higgs, recently supported by an excellent job done by two CERN collaborations for discovering of the Higgs boson provides the final glorious triumph of the Standard Model.Within the initial formulation of the Standard Model neutrinos are massless particles. However, already now it is known that the Standard Model should be extended to some more general theory in particular because of neutrinos which are the only particles exhibiting experimentally well-confirmed properties beyond the Standard Model. This is because of neutrino mixing and oscillations supported by the discovery of flavour conversion of neutrinos from different sources, the effect that is not possible for massless neutrinos.

A Standard Model Neutrino Mechanism

“…If the neutrino does not travel at the speed of light, its spin could be reversed to an observer traveling faster than it and so realize a violation of spin conservation compounding the appeal to new physics. Given this, multiple models for neutrino oscillations have been proposed such as faster than light [4], sterile neutrinos [5] as well as other explanatory theories, all postulating physics outside the standard model [6] [7].…”